scholarly journals Development of Waste Polystyrene-Based Copper Oxide/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites and Their Mechanical, Electrical and Thermal Properties

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2372
Author(s):  
Waqas Ahmad ◽  
Qaizar Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Yaseen ◽  
Imtiaz Ahmad ◽  
Fida Hussain ◽  
...  

The current study reports the effect of different wt. ratios of copper oxide nanoparticle (CuO-NPs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as fillers on mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of waste polystyrene (WPS) matrix. Firstly, thin sheets of WPS-rGO-CuO composites were prepared through solution casting method with different ratios, i.e., 2, 8, 10, 15 and 20 wt.% of CuO-NPs and rGO in WPS matrix. The synthesized composite sheets were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrical conductance and mechanical strength of the prepared composites were determined by using LCR meter and universal testing machine (UTM). These properties were dependent on the concentrations of CuO-NPs and rGO. Results display that the addition of both fillers, i.e., rGO and CuO-NPs, collectively led to remarkable increase in the mechanical properties of the composite. The incorporation of rGO-CuO: 15% WPS sample, i.e., WPS-rGO-CuO: 15%, has shown high mechanical strength with tensile strength of 25.282 MPa and Young modulus of 1951.0 MPa, respectively. Similarly, the electrical conductance of the same composite is also enhanced from 6.7 × 10−14 to 4 × 10−7 S/m in contrast to WPS at 2.0 × 106 Hz. The fabricated composites exhibited high thermal stability through TGA analysis in terms of 3.52% and 6.055% wt. loss at 250 °C as compared to WPS.

Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1001
Author(s):  
Sozan E. El-Abeid ◽  
Yosra Ahmed ◽  
José-Antonio Daròs ◽  
Mohamed A. Mohamed

Sustainable use of nanotechnology in crop protection requires an understanding of the plant’s life cycle, potential toxicological impacts of nanomaterials and their mechanism of action against the target pathogens. Herein, we show some properties of a candidate antifungal nanocomposite made from copper oxide (CuO; otherwise an essential soil nutrient) nanoparticles (NPs), with definite size and shape, decorating the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets. The successful preparation of the rGO-CuO NPs was confirmed by spectroscopic and microscopic analyses, and its antifungal activity against wild strains of Fusarium oxysporum affecting tomato and pepper plants was successfully confirmed. A comparative analysis in vitro indicated that this nanocomposite had higher antifungal activity at only 1 mg/L than the conventional fungicide Kocide 2000 at 2.5 g/L. Further investigation suggested that rGO-CuO NPs creates pits and pores on the fungal cell membranes inducing cell death. In planta results indicated that only 1 mg/L from the nanocomposite is required to reduce Fusarium wilt and root rot diseases severity below 5% for tomato and pepper plants without any phytotoxicity for about 70 days. Comparatively, 2.5 g/L of Kocide 2000 are required to achieve about 30% disease reduction in both plants. The present study contributes to the concept of agro-nanotechnology, showing the properties of a novel ecofriendly and economic nanopesticide for sustainable plant protection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 108010
Author(s):  
Beom-Gon Cho ◽  
Shalik Ram Joshi ◽  
Jaekyo Lee ◽  
Young-Bin Park ◽  
Gun-Ho Kim

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashwini Patil

Abstract The present research deals with the development of a novel bioinspired in situ fabrication of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) nanocomposite (rGO@AgNCs) using microbes namely Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) and Staphylococcus aureus (SA). The fabricated rGO@AgNCs were characterized using Ultraviolet-visible (UV) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), particle size analysis, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential analysis, energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Raman spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analysis, etc. Furthermore, the rGO@AgNCs-PA and rGO@AgNCs-SA interaction with serum protein, pH stability study, and in vitro dissolution of AgNPs were also performed. The research findings of the proposed study demonstrated the simultaneous reduction of graphene oxide (GO) and AgNPs and the formation of rGO@AgNCs in the presence of microbes. The in vitro dissolution studies of rGO@AgNCs composites showed better AgNPs dissolution with controlled release and offered remarkable matrix integrity throughout the dissolution period. The size and stability of rGO@AgNCs-PA and rGO@AgNCs-SA had no significant changes at physiological pH 7.4. A minimal decrease in the zeta potential of rGO@AgNCs was observed, which may be due to the weak interaction of nanocomposites and albumin. The antibacterial application of the synthesized nanocomposite was evaluated against a pathogenic mastitis-forming bacterium. The obtained results suggested an admirable antibacterial activity of synthesized nanocomposites against the tested microbes. This knowledge will assist the scientific fraternity in designing novel antibacterial agents with enhanced antibacterial activity against various veterinary pathogens in near future.


ACS Omega ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (34) ◽  
pp. 21345-21354
Author(s):  
Esraa Hamdy ◽  
Laila Saad ◽  
Fuad Abulfotuh ◽  
Moataz Soliman ◽  
Shaker Ebrahim

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 4035-4046
Author(s):  
Rengasamy Dhanabal ◽  
Dhanasekaran Naveena ◽  
Sivan Velmathi ◽  
Arumugam Chandra Bose

Using a simple solution based synthesis route, hexagonal MoO3 (h-MoO3) nanorods on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets were prepared. The structure and morphology of resulting RGO-MoO3 nanocomposite were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The optical property was studied using UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The RGO-MoO3 nanocomposites were used as an electrode for supercapacitor application and photocatalyst for photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. We demonstrated that the RGO-MoO3 electrode is capable of delivering high specific capacitance of 134 F/g at current density of 1 A/g with outstanding cyclic stability for 2000 cycles. The RGOMoO3 photocatalyst degrades 95% of MB dye within 90 min, and a considerable recyclability up to 4 cycles was observed. The quenching effect of scavengers test confirms holes are main reactive species in the photocatalytic degradation of MB. Further, the charge transfer process between RGO and MoO3 was schematically demonstrated.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuyu Ren ◽  
Lili Zhao ◽  
Yang Zou ◽  
Lixin Song ◽  
Ningning Dong ◽  
...  

TiO2/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites with two different TiO2 particle sizes were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method using two different source materials of Ti: tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) and commercial TiO2 powder (P25). For respective series with the same source materials, we investigated additions that optimized the nonlinear optical properties (NLO) and optical limiting (OL) performances, and we explored the relationships between structural diversity and performance. Several characterization techniques, including X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and diffuse reflectance ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) were conducted to confirm the microstructures and chemical states of as-prepared materials. This indicated the existence of the Ti–O–C bond between rGO sheets and TiO2 particles and the reduction from precursor graphene oxide (GO) to rGO. The results of UV-Vis spectra revealed that the TiO2/rGO nanocomposites showed smaller band gaps than bare TiO2. A nanosecond open-aperture Z-scan technique at 1064 nm was applied to investigate NLO and OL properties. TiO2/rGO nanocomposites exhibited enhanced NLO and OL performances, arising from synergistic effects, compared to individual components. The TBT series samples performed better than the P25 series, presumably relevant to dimensional effects.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 845
Author(s):  
Qi Yu ◽  
Yiyi Wang ◽  
Ping Chen ◽  
Weicheng Nie ◽  
Hanlin Chen ◽  
...  

The efficient preparation of electromagnetic wave absorbing materials with low density and excellent electromagnetic wave absorption remains a considerable challenge. In this study, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) wrapped Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized based on one-step reaction by the reduction of graphene oxide (GO), and the generation of super-fine Fe3O4 NPs was achieved. The phase structure, chemical composition, micromorphology, and magnetism were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The electromagnetic characteristics were evaluated on a vector network analyzer by the coaxial line method. The results showed that super-fine Fe3O4 NPs with an average size of 6.18 nm are densely distributed on the surface of graphenes. The RGO/Fe3O4 nanocomposites exhibited excellent microwave absorption properties with a minimum reflection loss (RL) of up to −55.71 dB at 6.78 GHz at 3.5 mm thickness and the highest effective absorption bandwidth with RL values exceeding −10 dB is 4.76 GHz between 13.24 and 18 GHz at 1.7 mm thickness. This work provides a concise method for the development of RGO supported super dense Fe3O4 nanocomposites for high performance electromagnetic absorption applications.


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